Auxiliary hanger



March 7, 1967 ,5, E 1 ET AL AUXILIARY HANGER Filed July 12, 1965 NFSI wt m wc w a E )1 SW z RU wm Y OL M T NHB U A R E Dm m VTR mnwT NRA md %M m t OE F k RB B m. IN MN Om United States Patent 3,307,753 AUXILIARY HANGER Bernard B. Levine, New York, and Robert Phillips, Roslyn, N.Y., assignors to Bernard Plastics Molding Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 12, 1965, Ser. No. 470,972 1 Claim. (Cl. 22395) This invention relates to hangers for supporting and displaying garments.

The invention has particular usefulness in the hanging and display of womens skirts, slacks-shorts or packaged folded items in conjunction with jackets, blouses or separate tops.

The invention particularly relates to an auxiliary attachment hanger which can be used in conjunction with existing jacket or blouse hangers to produce a composite hanger of the type referred to above. Further in accordance with the invention, the auxiliary hanger may be readily assembled with or disassembled from the conventional hanger so as to permit the garments to be shipped or displayed separately or together as desired.

The invention further relates to a low cost, unitarily molded auxiliary hanger which can, if desired, be disposed of to the retail customer after shipment and display of the garment.

One object of the invention, accordingly, is to provide a low cost auxiliary hanger especially adapted to the support and hanging of skirts (see above) and the like, which can be readily used in conjunction with existing hangers for jackets and the like, to display the composite garment with a visual appearance similar to that of the garment when worn.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, we provide such auxiliary hanger in the shape of an inverted T with a bar at the bottom and a vertical leg connected to the middle of the bar. The bar is provided with notches to receive the straps of a skirt or any other garment that has straps. The auxiliary hanger is unitarily molded of any'suitable plastic such as polyethylene, so as to be relatively stiff and not easily bendable, and may if necessary be provided with a peripheral reinforcing rib for such purpose. At its upper end, the bar is provided with an aperture sized so that the hook, for example the swivel hook, of a conventional jacket hanger, may be extended through such aperture.

In accordance with the invention, the material of the bar is provided with a thin area on either side of the aperture extending from the aperture to the side edge of the bar, these two thin areas being aligned so as to define what may be considered as a line or band wherein the bar is bendable so as to bring the tip portion of the bar, above the bending band, into right angles with the remainder of the bar.

Accordingly, with the hook extended through the aperture, the bar may be bent so that the tip portion rests upon the top of the hanger and the remainder of the bar extends against the side of the hanger. The leg is of sufiicient length to extend below the body sulficiently so as to locate a skirt supported on the bar in position relative to a jacket or the like supported by the hanger body in substantial correspondence to the relative jacket and skirt positions when worn by a natural person.

The auxiliary hanger may be assembled with or disassembled from the conventional hanger either before or after the jacket or the like is mounted upon the conventional hanger. Accordingly, the hangers may be used in conjunction in any suitable way. For example, if desired, the auxiliary hanger may be mounted on a hook and the skirt or other garment supported by it may thereby be shipped or displayed separately from the jacket or 3,307,753 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 the like on the conventional hanger. On the other hand, the two garments may be shipped and displayed together.

The invention is particularly useful in retail store displays and the like of separates. It has been common to display the skirts and tops of separates in different locations. With the present invention, it is possible at will to display such garment parts separately or together as the case may be.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the hanger in accordance with the present invention, assembled with a conventional hanger.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation, to enlarged scale, of the hanger in accordance with the invention, prior to its assembly with the conventional hanger.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the hanger shown in FIG. 3, showing the upper tip of the hanger in broken lines in flexed condition which it assumes when mounted upon the conventional hanger.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section on line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

The drawings are substantially to scale of a working model of the invention, and reference is made to the drawings to complete the disclosure herein.

Upon reference to the drawings in detail, it will be noted that they show an auxiliary hanger 20 for use in conjunction with a main hanger 10. Main hanger 10 may be conventional and it may be in the form of a flat hanger body 11 having a neck 12 with a top surface 12:: and arms 13 extending outwardly from the central neck 12. These arms 13 may be provided with upper edge notches 13a and lower edge notches 13b for reception of the straps of skirts and other garments. However, with a jacket or the like mounted upon hanger 10 in the usual way, a skirt whose straps are mounted by means of the notches or 13b will be located in a position relative to the jacket entirely different from that assumed when the skirt and jacket are being worn.

Any suitable hook 14 may be secured to neck 12 to be upstanding therefrom. In this case, a metal hook 14 is illustratively shown, the shank 15 of which is fastened into the neck 12 by any suitable means (conventional and not shown in detail) so that the shank 15 extends upwardly from the top surface 12a of neck 12. The hook 14 may be bent at an angle at 14a at its upper end so that it may be placed over a support rod or the like. The hanger body optionally has front peripheral ribbing 13c.

It will be understood that the hanger "10 merely exemplifies any conventional hanger having a neck, arms extending outwardly from the neck and an upstanding hook.

The auxiliary hanger 20 is preferably unitarily molded from plastic and is relatively rigid although with some pliability. Any suitable plastic for this purpose may be used, such as polyethylene, and it is known as such to mold hangers from plastic of this type.

The auxiliary hanger 20, in its normal use position shown in the drawing, is in the shape of an inverted T, having a bottom bar 21 and an upstanding leg 22. By way of illustration, bar 21 may be approximately 11% inches long (distance between the two side edges in the orientation shown in FIG. 1), approximately /2 inch wide (distance between the upper and lower edges as taken in FIG. 1) and slightly more than inch thick. The leg 22 may be approximately 7% inches long, and may otherwise have substantially the same dimensions as bar 21. The leg 22 is connected to the upper edge of bar 21 at a point equally distant between the ends of bar 21. In order to assist in maintaining leg 22 perpendicular to bar 21, a pair of struts 23 extend from leg 22, slightly above bar 21, to respective points on bar 21 on either side of leg 22.

Bar 21 may be provided with any suitable means for support of a garment or the like, such as the notches 24 formed in the upper edge thereof, and which are adapted to receive the straps of a skirt or the like so that the garment hangs below the bar 21.

Above the level of points P on either side edge of leg 22, near the upper end thereof, the side edges 25 of leg 22 diverge upwardly outwardly, so that the width of leg 22 increases in the direction above points P. The straight outwardly diverging edge portions terminate at their upper ends at points Q. Above points Q, the side edge portions 26 of leg 22 are convex and first diverge sharply away from each other, then extend generally parallel to each other and finally converge toward each other to join the generally straight upper edge 27 of bar 22. For convenience, the straight edge portions of the edge portions 26 are designated by the reference characters 26a.

The front face of leg 22 is provided with ribs 28 which extend along the side edges of leg 22 from the bottom thereof. These ribs 28 coincide with the edge portions 25 and continue into the edge portions 26, terminating at points R which are within edge portions 26a and slightly below the midpoints L of these side edge portions 26a. Additionally, leg 21 is provided on its front face with a rib 29 extending around the entire periphery thereof. The struts 23 are provided on their front face with respective ribs 30 which extend between the upper run of rib 29 and the respective side ribs 28.

The purpose of the ribs 28 and 29 is substantially to prevent flexing of the bar 21 and leg 22 in normal use of the hanger, although of course with sufficient force the material can be bent somewhat.

The upper end portion of leg 22 is provided with an aperture 31 extending between the front and rear faces thereof. This aperture 31 has a V-shaped lower portion comprising straight edges 32 which meet at a point A slightly above the level of points P. The straight edges 32 end at upper points B which are located above the level of points Q and below the level of points R. The upper portion of aperture 32 is generally round and is in the form of an edge 33 which extends from one point B outwardly, upwardly, then inwardly, then at 34a parallel to the upper edge 27, and then outwardly, downwardly, and inwardly to return to the other point B. Therefore, the edge 33 has generally parallel and straight outer portions 34 which intersect the imaginary line M which connects the points L, such line M being shown in broken lines in FIG. 3.

As an important part of the invention, the leg 22 is provided with bend areas or zones 40 on each side of aperture 31 and extending from aperture 31 to the side edges of leg 22. Specifically, each zone 40 extends above and below line M, terminating in a lower edge 40a which is approximately at the level of point R corresponding to the upper end of rib 25. The two edges 40a are generally straight and generally aligned. The upper edges 40b of the zones 40 are also generally straight and generaly aligned. Each zone 40 extends between an edge portion 34 and an edge portion 26a. Each zone 40 is in the form of a groove or cutout in the front face of leg 22, so that within the zone 40 the wall portion 41 of leg 22 is extremely thin.

The portion of leg 22 generally above line M will be referred to as the tip 42, and the portion below line M will be referred to as the main portion of leg 22.

As the result of the foregoing construction, the tip 42 may be bent rearwardly, relative to the main portion of leg 22, about an axis generally coincident with the line M,

to a condition approaching right angles with the main portion of leg 22, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 4.

It will be understood that the broken line position of FIG. 4 is merely illustrative of a possible bent condition of the tip.

It will be apparent that the auxiliary hanger 20 may be used independently of hanger 10, for example by extending a rod or hook through aperture 37. However, as a particular feature of the invention, and as stated above, the hanger 20 may be assembled with hanger 10. This is possible by extending the hook 14 through aperture 31, with the front or ribbed faces of the hangers oriented so that both are visible from the front, and bending the tip 42 to a position such as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, and permitting the tip 42 to rest upon the upper edge 12a of neck 12. The rear face of leg 22 abuts the front face of hanger 10. As thus mounted, the leg 22 abuts the body 10 and extends below it. The shank 15 then abuts the upper edge portion of aperture 31. Preferably, the distance between the rear edge of shank 15 and the front face of rib 13c of hanger body 13 is approximately equal to the distance between the edge 34a and the line M so as to make it posible for leg 22 to lie fiat against hanger body 13.

The length of leg 22 is preferably such that a skirt supported on skirt '21 will be in position relative to a jacket or the like supported on hanger 10 in substantial correspondence to the relative jacket and skirt positions when they are worn by a natural person. Accordingly, the use of the hanger assembly in this way results in an extremely realistic hanging and display of suits, separates and the like.

It will be apparent that in ordinary use, with the weight exerted by the skirt upon the bar 21, the tip 42 will not remain at right angles to the remainder of leg 22. Instead, the tip 42 will be inclined, for example at the angle shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, such that the edge 34a engages the shank 15 slightly above the upper surface 12a of hanger neck 12. Accordingly, the wall portion 41 between the tip and the main portion of bar 22 substantially engages the front edge of the hanger top 12a,

changes, missions and additions which may be made therein, it will be apparent that various other changes, omissions and additions may be made in the invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.

What is claimed is: Auxiliary display hanger for skirts and the like for use in conjunction with a conventional hanger for jackets and the like having a hanger body and hook upstanding therefrom, said auxiliary display hanger comprising a bar having notches in one edge thereof adjacent its ends adapted to receive skirt straps and the like to support the skirt, and a leg connected to said bar at the center of said edge and perpendicular thereto, said leg having an elongated aperture formed therein adjacent its free end and sized to permit extension of said hook therethrough to bring said leg into abutment with the top of said body, said leg made of relatively stiff bendable plastic material, said leg having a reinforcing rib extending around its periphery and preventing bending of said leg, said rib interrupted on opposite sides of said aperture to permit bending of said leg on a line between said interruptions and extending across said leg, said leg being grooved at said interruptions so as to reduce the thickness and thereby increase the flexibility thereof to definea bendable tip of said leg between said bend line and said free end, said bendable tip being bent ninety degrees out of the plane of said leg, said elongated aperture extending above and below the bend line toward the leg free end extremity and notched bar, respectively, to provide -an aperture opening to permit said bendable tip to rest upon the top of said body with said hook through said aperture and the rest of said leg alongside said body, said bendable tip being capable of being bent back in the plane of said leg to facilitate packing of a plurality of auxiliary display hangers, said leg being of a substantial length to extend a considerable distance below said body sufficiently so as to locate the skirt supported on said bar in position relative to the jacket supported by said body in substantial correspondence to the relative jacket and skirt positions when worn by a natural person.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Banks 22392 X Von Palmenberg 2239l Friedler 23388 Friedler 22388 Schneier 22388 Levine et a1. 22319 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

